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Understand how file libraries in Microsoft 365 are connected.

Quick reference

File Libraries and Groups

Learn how File Libraries work across Microsoft 365 applications.

When to use

File Libraries are an ever-present part of Microsoft 365. We store files in file libraries and those files synchronize across applications.

Instructions

File Libraries are a key feature of SharePoint but they are also a key feature of other Microsoft 365 applications such as Outlook and Teams. Let's start by opening Outlook. 

File Libraries in Outlook

  • Open Outlook from the App Launcher
  • Scroll down to Groups
  • Click on a group
  • Click on Files

This will connect us to the SharePoint file library for this group in Outlook. Anyone who is a member of this group can open these files and create new files. The structure is very similar to OneDrive. We can click the New drop-down and select a document type to create. 

We work with our file library files in a similar way to working with files in OneDrive. 

  • Click on a file to open it in its corresponding application

Note that the URL of the document is a SharePoint URL. 

We can use the horizontal menu to perform various actions on the selected file. 

File Libraries in SharePoint

We can jump directly to the same file library in SharePoint from the Outlook group. 

  • Open Outlook from the App Launcher
  • Scroll down to Groups
  • Click on a group
  • Click on the three dots
  • Click on Site

This will jump us across to the associated SharePoint site for the Outlook group. 

  • Click the Documents link in the left-hand menu

We will see the same document library in SharePoint

If we open a file from the SharePoint library and make changes, everything will synchronize. 

Synchronize a SharePoint Library to File Explorer

If we have many files that we need to access regularly stored in SharePoint, we can synchronize the file library to File Explorer much like OneDrive. 

  • From SharePoint, click on the Documents link in the left-hand menu
  • Click the Sync button

The library will synchronize and show in the folder pane in File Explorer.

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  • 00:04 File libraries are a key feature of SharePoint, but they're also a key
  • 00:08 feature of other Microsoft 365 applications such as Outlook and Teams.
  • 00:14 So let's start out by simply opening up Outlook.
  • 00:16 Now, as we already know, if we scroll down to the bottom of our folder list,
  • 00:21 this is where we can see our Microsoft 365 groups.
  • 00:25 And if we click on Project Alpha, which is the group we created a little bit earlier
  • 00:29 on, this is where we can see any emails that have been sent to this group, but
  • 00:33 we can also see any files that have been shared as well.
  • 00:37 And if we click on the Go To Group Files icon,
  • 00:40 that's going to connect us to our SharePoint file library for this group.
  • 00:46 And anybody who's a member of this group can open these files, and
  • 00:50 create new files.
  • 00:52 You can see here this has a very similar structure to when we're working in
  • 00:55 OneDrive.
  • 00:56 So I can click the new drop down and I can create a brand new document,
  • 00:59 spreadsheet, presentation, from directly within the file library.
  • 01:04 I can upload files and folders to the library, and
  • 01:07 I can even add a shortcut directly to this folder to OneDrive.
  • 01:11 Now the way that your files work within a library
  • 01:14 within Outlook is very similar to working with our files in OneDrive.
  • 01:18 So if I click on the general folder, you can see there are those files.
  • 01:23 If I want to work on one of these files I can simply click on it, and
  • 01:27 it's going to open it up in Word Online.
  • 01:30 And if you take a look at the URL you can see that it says sharepoint.com,
  • 01:35 so we are actually working in a SharePoint library.
  • 01:38 Many of the other options that we have when working in file libraries
  • 01:41 again are very similar to OneDrive.
  • 01:43 If I was to select Bios for authors as opposed to opening it, again,
  • 01:47 I get numerous options in that horizontal menu.
  • 01:51 I can open in a browser or in an app, I can share it, I can copy the link.
  • 01:55 And if I click on the ellipses, I get a whole bunch of other options,
  • 01:59 I can download, delete, pin, rename.
  • 02:02 So very, very consistent across our file storage applications,
  • 02:06 whether it be SharePoint or OneDrive.
  • 02:08 So let's click back on our group, Project Alpha, because aside
  • 02:13 from being able to view the file library from here, if we click the three dots,
  • 02:17 notice that we can also jump directly to the site within SharePoint.
  • 02:22 So if I click on site,
  • 02:24 it's going to jump me across to the Project Alpha site within SharePoint.
  • 02:29 And from here I can click on Documents,
  • 02:31 and that's going to take me to the exact same document library.
  • 02:35 If you notice, again, it looks the same as what we were looking at within Outlook.
  • 02:40 I can click on General, and there are my files.
  • 02:44 And once again, I can click from within SharePoint to open this same file.
  • 02:48 It's going to open in Word, I can make my changes, and
  • 02:51 everything synchronizes across all of the Microsoft 365 applications.
  • 02:56 Now the final thing to note here when you are actually in SharePoint is you might
  • 03:00 want to synchronize a SharePoint library to File Explorer much like you
  • 03:04 do OneDrive.
  • 03:05 Now, I'm going to go back a level here and click on Documents, because what you
  • 03:09 might notice is that in the horizontal menu above, we have a synchronized button.
  • 03:14 So if I click on Sync, I get this little message we're syncing your files,
  • 03:18 we are connecting to OneDrive on your device.
  • 03:21 So let's click on Close.
  • 03:23 And once we've walked through that process,
  • 03:25 check out what we now have in File Explorer.
  • 03:28 If you take a look towards the bottom,
  • 03:30 I have a SharePoint library linked just here.
  • 03:32 You can see the icon is completely different to the OneDrive icon.
  • 03:37 If I expand this out, you can see there we have a folder, Project Alpha Documents,
  • 03:42 and if I click on General, there are my three files.
  • 03:45 So I can now work with that SharePoint library from within File Explorer.

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